Lab test may point to homicide suspect

Investigators say analysis may help with case

September 14, 2011

YORK — — Investigators may be one lab result away from an arrest in the death of 48-year-old Kuan-Yu Trevillian, whose body was found in July along a road miles from where she lived.

Few details have been released about how and where she died. But in a new revelation, York County Sheriff's Capt. Troy Lyons said Monday, "We have no evidence at this point that it was a stranger abduction homicide. We do believe she knew her killer."

Investigators have been tight-lipped for a reason.

"By not revealing certain information until all the lab results come back, if someone comes forward with information that has not been released, it may mean they have first-hand knowledge," Lyons explained. "That's a key component right now."

DNA tests on evidence may hold the key, presumably that of the suspect.

"Unfortunately, even alerting the lab to the sensitive nature of this case, it still sometimes takes 6 to 10 weeks, if not longer, before we get the results back because the lab is swamped," Lyons said. "Once we can analyze those results, then we'll have a better feel of where we're going with this."

On the morning of July 10, a passerby spotted the body of a woman amid tall grass on Cliftons Bluff in The Oaks at Fenton Mill neighborhood in upper-York.

She was identified through DNA as Kuan-Yu Trevillian. Her husband said he last saw her the night before around 7 p.m. when she was going out for a walk in their Springhill subdivision, off News Road in James City. He reported her missing a few hours later and led a search the next morning, handing out fliers.

York deputies and James City Police searched the couple's home. The search warrant and an inventory taken from the home was sealed.

Lyons wouldn't say how Trevillian died. He said investigators don't think she was killed in the area where she was found, but he declined to comment on where.

Neighbors in Springhill have expressed anxiety about safety, but investigators don't think her death was random.

Lyons said investigators have narrowed in on a specific suspect.

"We have a good amount of physical evidence," he said. "We're waiting on the (results) of the physical evidence and we will need that physical evidence to confirm our suspicions."

Anyone with information about this crime should call the Crime Line at 888 562-5887.